


Untangling the Future

by ilyena_sylph, Merfilly



Series: Abandoned Concepts [9]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Hidden Families, M/M, Post-Episode: s02e21-22 Twilight of the Apprentice, Timeline Shenanigans, not all Jedi are lost
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-10
Updated: 2019-03-10
Packaged: 2019-11-15 03:27:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18065705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ilyena_sylph/pseuds/ilyena_sylph, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merfilly/pseuds/Merfilly
Summary: In The Way Between Worlds, a guardian finds a way to divert time itself.Fortunately, the Sentinel she chooses is very resourceful......or how a small family within the Jedi Order tries to fix it all.





	Untangling the Future

**Author's Note:**

> This was partially written some time ago, but was close enough to an end point that made sense, that we have chosen to add it to our Abandoned Series. Please enjoy!

In the Way Between Worlds, a Togruta who was neither a Jedi nor a Sith or any other recognized adept of the Force, prowled and learned all she could. Within the passages she had found, there were ghosts and memories, streams from before her own life that occasionally called to her.

_I hate you!_

The sheer rage in that ghost of a memory made her turn pale, as she realized she had wandered into the ghosts of her own past, memories that could not be hers but had shaped her life and choices and actions nonetheless.

_I killed them all!_

The grief-mad voice made her flinch, and she had to call hard against every discipline she held not to touch the time-stream then and there to try and affect it. Fortunately, there was another voice within her, one that had sacrificed her last existence to give the Togruta life, and that voice counseled patience.

_Master Qui-Gon? I don't mean to be a bother._

The tiny voice pulled on her heart, made her turn as if to touch those lives at that point, but again, the Daughter pulled her back, further, away from the voice of her master in distress.

_No tears from you, young Obi-Wan. And no sudden expressions of sentiment from you either, Plo._

This was no voice known firsthand to the Togruta, heard only in teaching tapes and holos recorded by Jedi long gone. Yet the Daughter lingered, and the Togruta recalled what she knew of the man, a man that had served on Council for decades and led the Sentinel branch of the Order.

A large man with distinctive hair and eyebrows that reminded her achingly of her brothers came to mind. The Togruta had seen footage of him, heard the pain in voices of those she had called chosen family even before the war gave her so many brothers.

The Daughter agreed, and the keeper of the Way Between Worlds reached out, touching the ghost memories just a little before the death that had been, and pushed knowing into the Force, through it, to the man she had chosen to affect the future she had already lived.

At least one form of the galaxy might know peace, if he was strong enough to be the Chosen One.

+++

Micah snapped awake, his head spinning, his heart pounding, frightened out of his wits and painfully aware of an incalculable danger to the Republic he served, to his husband, his daughters. The face, the face wasn't familiar, but he knew the threat was real...

Plo, who had been resting with him, came alert rapidly, and reached out, physically and mentally. "Micah? My heart, what is it?"

He was **so** thankful they'd been sleeping in Micah's quarters tonight so he did not have to worry about a mask for his beloved slipping loose.

"Vision," Micah answered, between gasps, and twisted to actively use Plo as a mattress, hand latching into the fabric of his tunic, as horror after horror played themselves in his mind. Moments of warmth, of his husband's laughter -- but he was in none of those, and Bultar's eyes were too often sad.

"Oh, my love." Plo twined his leg around Micah's calf, and held onto him with that and both arms, so that he was as physically real as possible to the man coming out of a Vision. He also opened his mind a little more, helping anchor Micah further.

Micah burrowed into the physical hold and clung to their mental link, trying to make his body calm. If he could calm his body, it would calm his mind, and Plo was right here, safe and well. He breathed deliberately, refusing to think of anything but the pattern of breathing, though that was hard as things flickered just outside of his control. War, droids, men, all alike but not alike at all, and the sick gleam of red lightsabers everywhere... no. Nothing but breathing. Just breathing, then slowing his hammering heart with the breathing... Eventually, he sighed, and rubbed his cheek against Plo's shoulder.

Plo reached up then and scratched ever so gently with his talons, running the touch over scalp and neck.

"This is not your usual gift, Micah. Of us all, only Qui normally touches them, and he refuses to conscience his most of the time."

"I would prefer it to remain not my gift," Micah answered, shaking his head just a little, not enough to dislodge Plo's gentle talons or cut himself on them. "That... was horrific. And I understand the meaning, but... it feels as though something used me as a cup to catch a river of information in."

"On the brighter side, you have a puzzle to sort out?" Plo offered, hoping to make his partner smile a little.

Micah muttered a Kel Dor epithet at his mate, but he did smile for a moment, before all he had seen reared up again. "I saw... felt... the end of the Order, Plo. And soon... all too soon."

Plo's tusks came to a near pinch of absolute displeasure at that idea.

"We seek change, not an end."

"We failed to change it, I think," Micah said, "and that was part of the ending. The Sith either remain, or are reborn... and they will come against us. Soon, but secret."

"The Sith? Not just a Fallen Dark Jedi?" Plo pressed, as that was... shocking indeed.

"No... not just a fallen one -- though that, too, from some of what I saw. But the feeling, the awareness, was Sith, ancient, old hate, old plans..."

"Then, we are in dire straits," Plo said firmly. "And the puzzle is one of life and death for many."

"So many, Plo," Micah said, shaking a little at the memory of all the dead, of the knowledge that the Order itself would die....

Plo crooned at him lovingly. "Aren't you the one that shows five minutes of warning is plenty to avert tragedy?"

"Hmm... so I am. And we may do so yet... if I can just make sense of everything packed into my brain," Micah agreed. "...assuming it will stay there, at least."

"Share, and it will be available to us both... I can reach for Qui? He's not that far."

"Ye -- no! No, not yet," Micah said, reversing himself because of the images he'd seen of Dooku. It would need him in a more sane frame of mind before they tackled Qui-Gon together. "Just us, for now." He reached for his husband then, trying to bring the torrent of images back to mind to share.

::Relax, Micah... I can unlock the recent memories more easily than you,:: Plo said once he'd opened his mind fully, sharing the mindscape an infant Kel Dor had forged with three humans and a Noorian.

Micah did his best to mind his mate, pulling on a light meditative trance to do so, and let Plo rummage around as he wished to get things visible to him.

Plo, for his part, was having to fall hard against the discipline of 'healer' as the images and sounds tore at him with their confirmation of Micah's words. Eventually, though, they had a very incomplete picture of a world where Micah did not exist and everything came undone.

"This is... terrible."

Micah nodded his agreement with his mate's assessment of things. "Yes. Could you get any idea of _how_ that all came? I know I did not somehow send it to myself, nor you, but there was... something, someone, behind it..."

"I had an impression of a very powerful Force being, almost an extension of its own self," Plo told his mate. "None of that is anchored on you -- and you had best not leave me so soon, Micah Giiett! -- so it should not have come to you in normal meditation.

"You are correct, it was pushed to you. And as the Sith will not profit from you knowing, it must be a true sending."

"I have no desire to leave you at all," Micah replied, nuzzling him for a moment. "And no, I cannot see how our awareness could aid them. Did you recognize that face at all? The beaky one, not our least favorite Master."

Plo growled at being reminded of Dooku. He focused, and felt a glimmer of something, but not enough.

"No, though I think I may have seen him at some point, because there is a familiarity? We'll need a drawing."

"I can manage that, I think," Micah said, cuddled tight to Plo still. "I think that was young Obi-Wan I saw so often, though I can't be sure, with the beard... the young man with him, I don't recognize at all."

"He felt.... potent." Plo considered. "I think that is Obi-Wan. And I did not see Qui." Left alone with his children to raise so soon from now did not sound like a promising path to sanity for Plo himself. "I felt as if some or most of what we were seeing were through the eyes of someone who grew up in it all."

"I didn't see Qui either," Micah agreed, unsettled by that almost as much as he was by his own lack. "And... I think you are right, there. That it was someone that grew up with you, my dear one. Another foundling for us?"

"As long as it is 'us' this time around," Plo said, still not pleased at the idea of not having Micah. Not having either of them... and Ky didn't seem to exist in this life they'd seen... hurt and terrified him. "The ones that look so similar but blazed with clear distinction? I know of no human population that uniform in appearance."

"I don't, either," Micah agreed, shaking his head. "And cosmetic surgery to that degree would be... ridiculously expensive. Also, what possible purpose could there be to it?"

Micah drew until his hand cramped, took half an hour, and went back to drawing, until images of all of the faces and some of the scenes were captured in datapad and printout, then looked at his mate. "Kit, for possible identification of the water world next, or out to Maz to ask about Ky next?"

"We are stronger together; let us try to find Ky first." He ached, anew, with the loss of Tahl, their fiery but astute intellectual.

Micah nodded, and leaned against him for a moment, before he went to tell Bultar, leaving Plo to see to the details of the ship and provisions and such. And to deal with Lissarkh's clanmaster.

Bultar was studying a complex case involving multiple systems and a murder, trying to wrap her head around cultural contexts for wrongful deaths. She was more than happy to look up at the approach of her master, one of her fathers.

"How can any people not have the concept of wrongful death?" she asked before sighing. "No, I understand. Population pressures, resource scarcity, but ugh."

Micah nodded, "Indeed, dear one. I've had a rather distressing vision, and we're going out to Takodana to seek a lead on averting it. Pack all of that; we'll have plenty of time in hyperspace to look at it in more depth."

She grinned at him. "A trip, I like. Not happy about you having a vision. I thought you didn't do those?" She started scooping up her research pads together to get packed.

"I don't, normally," Micah agreed, "but apparently it was my turn. I should like to never have another, if that one is an indicator of what would be typical."

"Oh papa." She gave up on things and bounced up and over to him, wrapping him in a hug that burned with her love of him.

Micah wrapped around her, holding her close. He was **not** going to see his daughter look so sad; he refused.

"Alright, long trip... is Father stealing little sister for it?"

"He intended to," Micah replied, "I have no idea if he'll get his way or not -- but I do assume so."

"Okay. I'll bring some of my older lessons from Grandmaster, and work with her on those," Bultar said, dashing off to pack fully. She never hesitated on stealing Lissarkh's interests toward those of a Sentinel; Plo never fussed at her for it.

Micah nodded, and went to do his own packing. Soon enough, they were on the ship, only awaiting Plo.

They heard him, laughing at something, before they heard Lissark's feet hit the deck, having been up on her Finder's (and future master's) hip, despite being more than old enough to be past such things.

Plo then came forward, as Lissarkh had gone to put her bag in the cabin.

"You could have done preflight," he groused at Micah. "Bultar, copilot, please."

"I could have, and then you'd find something to fuss about in how I did it, oh gearhead," Micah replied, smiling at Lissarkh. "Hello, dear one."

Bultar trotted to the cockpit with her father, more than willing to help him..

"Lazy sentinels always halving the duty so an expert has to," Plo muttered playfully in passing, before he looped an arm around their elder daughter's shoulders. "You will do preflight while I watch. I need to make certain Master Tiin did not neglect anything in your classes with him."

"Hah, I should tell him you said that," Micah said, though he never would, and started a discussion with Lissarkh about what she had been learning in her initiate lessons.

Lissarkh was full of energy and willing to talk; she loved these excursions, even if it meant missing class time.

+++

"Oh, it is Trouble and his twin," Maz greeted, even as Lissarkh tucked in a little closer to Bultar's side. "And look at you. Bringing a child into an establishment like this! She's going to get the wrong idea about me," Maz teased.

"You are the Pirate Queen, and you are a friend to my fathers," Lissarkh said firmly, making herself stop flinching from the loud noise of one of the nearby tables.

Plo settled his hand on her shoulder, so proud of her. "We came hoping you could solve a years' old mystery."

"A mystery you two haven't already badgered into giving up its secrets?" Maz asked, deliberately wide-eyed and shaking her head, "Well, I suppose we'll have to see what an old woman can do for you. Come along, we'll speak out of the range of eager ears, whatever this is about."

"Alright," Plo said, guiding his daughter as Bultar followed Micah easily enough to a quieter spot.

"It's less that we haven't solved it on our own and more that the clues aren't there," Micah said as they settled. "It's about Ky."

"He vanished, years ago, and every search I've made along his path has turned up nothing," Plo added.

Maz frowned, considering, and tapped her fingers on the table. "Hmm. That one had a wandering way... and liked causing trouble. I wouldn't think he could disappear that easily... unless he was attacked in space. But... where was he supposed to be going?"

Bultar popped a pad down. "Uncle Ky had left a planned exploration along this side of the outer rim," she said. She touched a button, and various systems glowed blue. "Father has been to all of these already."

"If he had been attacked within my range... and injured severely... I should have felt it. If he were in a few parsecs of any of those, I should have felt his mind. And... nothing." Plo let his frustration show in his tusks.

Maz clicked her tongue, shaking her head. "I've heard nothing about a Jedi anywhere in all that range..." she frowned, closing her eyes, thinking, and then opened them again. "I think," she said, "you need to look..." and she reached to turn the map, resetting it to a wildly different quadrant, almost directly antipode to it, "...down here. There's been quite a bit of trouble on one of those worlds, from what some of the Weequay say."

Plo and Micah exchanged a glance, and then sighed as one. "Trust one of us," Micah said cheekily, "to go get so lost!"

"It might not be him," Bultar reminded them.

"But it might, and therefore, we shall look," Plo told their realistic child.

Maz chuckled, "Trust one of you, indeed," she said. "I don't know if it is your lost one, but that is where I think you must start."

"Maz, you are wonderful," Micah told her, leaning over to kiss her cheek.

"We are, as ever, grateful." Plo inclined his head to her. "Is there anything we can provide in return?"

"Not at the moment... but be careful, my friends. There's a storm coming."

Micah shuddered, and Plo moved a hand to his arm in reassurance.

"We know, Maz," Plo told her somberly. "It is why we seek our lost one, to strengthen our own ranks. Perhaps, this is what my Finder saw so long ago."

"Hmm... perhaps. Anything in drinks or food you'd like to lighten your purse for?"

"Oh we'll let Bultar dicker for that; good practice," Micah said, and the Kuati smiled at the pirate queen, before settling in to aid their supplies.

+++

Plo had been half-dozing when Bultar brought them out of hyperspace, sensibly in a gravitational shadow, but the doze evaporated as a connection slipped solidly in place.

::KY NAREC!!!:: he called down that bond.

Below, and half-awake after driving off the last of yet another attempt on his keep, Ky **snapped** awake with an audible yelp, even as he frantically seized onto the bond, :: PLO?! PLO, you're HERE?! **BE CAREFUL!** Also, stop screaming.::

::Sorry,:: Plo sent back, modulating his projection. ::We will be. Give me your coordinates as best you can, my brother?::

"Ky says be careful, Bultar. Keep us in shadow and use all the sensors to see what we are contending with."

::Kriff if I know, brother,:: Ky replied. ::It's dark, it's been dark for approximately three hours, I'm on a major river that bends from what feels like north-northeast to southwest in the next day's travel, and it's winter. Mind the be-damned ships above, they're aggressive and the only hyper-capable things around. None of the ships that come to the ground have hyperdrives.::

::Which explains your long absence to a degree,:: Plo said, relaying that to Bultar. She did the scans, marked out threats, and gridded the world to narrow down the likely landing point. ::Be safe, Ky. We are coming.::

With that, he took piloting over, and told Bultar to go wake Micah and warn him that there could, possibly, be fighting.

::I should hope it would,:: Ky replied, ::I'm not a telepath, I can't mind trick an entire crew of mostly-resistant species into missing me, and I'm also not immune to blaster fire. I can go start a fire on the roof, if that will help?::

::Not yet, Ky. Let me see if I can home in on you silently,:: Plo told him. ::We have a padawan and an Initiate aboard; I prefer to avoid combat if possible.::

::I just gave the latest group a good beating,:: Ky replied, ::so they aren't likely to come right away. But yes, definitely best to avoid trouble if possible. So I'll sit here and think loudly at you. Brother, you don't know how good it is to hear you.::

::We will have you soon.::

Ky let go then, and moved to go find the child in his care... not quite a child anymore, but his daughter nonetheless. She was not far; the recent skirmish had her nerves prickled.

"Master?"

"My clanmates, some of them anyway, are coming," Ky told her, smiling gently. "They've found me, so we're leaving, dear one."

"Away from here, so you will be safe?" Asajj asked, just to be certain.

"No, dear. So that _we_ will be safe. I am more concerned for you than myself, you know. Come now; gather what you wish to take."

Asajj thought his priorities were skewed, but moved to gather clothing, food supplies, and her weaponry.

Ky gathered up a few things, himself, but mostly he kept his mind wide open to Plo, beckoning him as much as he could. Finally... finally Plo had found them. It was such a relief he could not find words for it, but knew he did not have to.

Plo piloted down, avoiding detection by the decidedly unfriendly natives, using the description to get the general locale, and then that widening bond to fine-tune his drop.

Soon enough, and yet an eternity later, he set down with mostly no lights showing outside a keep, and Micah was at the hatch with Bultar, who had joined him to be ready to protect their family member.

Ky ran gladly to the ship, his hand in Asajj's, calling ahead mentally to Plo and aloud to Micah, easily seen in the glow from inside the ship, "This is my padawan with me."

"Then welcome, young one, for you are with friends now," Micah said. "This is Bultar, Ky... nearly all grown up on us now."

Asajj flicked her eyes over both, and decided she liked how confident Bultar stood, near her own age, she thought, or a bit older.

They both got aboard, and Micah secured the hatch, with Plo lifting even as it happened.

"Truly?" Ky blinked, startled, looking at the young woman who did, yes, resemble the little girl he'd known, but... how was she so old? "Well. Hello, Bultar. And ah... that's the nice thing about you two, no need for shouting. Asajj, you'll recognize Micah, of course. Micah, this is Asajj Ventress."

He let go of Asajj's hand, then, to grab Micah into a hard, deep hug.

"Hello," Asajj said politely to both.

They were strangers, yet not, for Ky told stories.

Micah wrapped strong arms around Ky, no less solid than he had been in his strength. "Oh Ky, thank FORCE we found you."

"Come on," Bultar said to Asajj. "You'll have to share the cabin with myself and Lissarkh, Master Plo's Foundling and future padawan," she added. "Let our masters have their reunion, and I'll gladly answer questions for you."

Ky kept his arms wrapped tight around Micah, cheek on top of his brother's head, humming deep in his throat. "Shh," he said, hearing something shaken and unsteady in Micah's voice, "shh, you've found me. I'm all right... and I am so, so glad you did."

Asajj eyed her warily for a moment, then nodded. Her Master was happy, and though the hum of the ship was alien and woke old fright in her, it seemed to soothe him. "All right," she agreed, and walked along with Bultar.

"Come on to the cockpit," Micah said once he could make himself let go. "Plo's going to want to lay talons on you as soon as he gets us clear. Bultar has your young one in hand... padawan, really? Good for you."

"Well, I wasn't about to leave her where I found her," Ky muttered, "and she's so strong." He had chuckled at the mention of Plo and his talons, and followed along willingly enough. "This is a different ship than the last one I remember being equipped for him -- did he crash it?"

"Something like that," Micah said cheekily, not mentioning that he'd been piloting that time, because Plo was injured. "And good. Plo and I will both invoke the old rule about lost Jedi having the right."

"Oh, so _you_ crashed it," Ky said, easily able to translate Micah _not_ expounding at length about Plo losing a ship. "Good, I'd hate to have to beat a few Masters over the head."

"With both of us on the Council now, you won't have to," Micah told him, lips twitching in a smile, confirming to Ky that it had gone that way in the aftermath of that debacle.

"Both of you," Ky said, then chuckled. "Well. All right, then. I'm relieved to hear it, if amused."

Micah let Ky go ahead of him into the cockpit, to take the co-pilot seat, before he co-opted the rarely used gunner seat.

"There you two are," Plo said, in a grumbly voice, even as he guided the ship through the narrow field of safe space.

"Oh, shush," Ky told him, his fingers sliding lightly over the controls as his eyes sought all the information he needed in order to help, if need be. "You're busy at the moment anyway."

"Hrmph," Plo replied to that before doing a small dive and loop to twist out of the edge of an archaic tracking system.

"He's still a grouch and then some," Micah teased, keeping hands near the controls but not firing up anything that would draw sensors.

"So I am noticing," Ky said, even as he brushed love and renewed relief over his Kel Dor brother's mind.

"I have to put up with him, remember," Plo said, brushing caring love over Ky's mind, along with joy.

"Bah, I am the light of your life outside our daughters."

"Daught _ers_ ," Ky asked, having only half-heard Bultar offering space in her cabin to Asajj, "you did say you had an Initiate, about which I will yell at you repeatedly later, along, didn't you?"

"Yes, Plo steals Lissarkh away as much as he can," Micah ratted his mate out. "Which is good for Bultar; both are tracking to follow in my path, you see."

"We did not expect things to be this -- " he cut off as he barely cleared the gravity well and punched a short hyperspace jump, " -- dangerous. And there were things that needed to be discussed as a family, outside the Temple."

Ky shook his head, muttering. "If it wasn't for that last half, I'd be highly insulted."

"Hmm, yes," Micah said, understanding that. "But Lissarkh is adept at self-defense already.

"She's a Trandoshan."

"A Trandoshan?" Ky blinked several times, cocking his head. "Dare I ask how that happened?"

Plo chuckled. "I'd gone to investigate an assassination, for a Senator. In the process, I found this tiny hatchling who had been pushed from her nest because she was different.

"I brought her home so that we would have a pair of dragons!"

Micah chuckled in memory at that.

"That does sound exactly like something you would do," Ky said, greatly amused and shaking his head. "Though I do loathe that practice." Now that they were safely in hyperspace, Ky dragged at Plo's chair with the Force, and once it was sufficiently turned, planted himself into Plo's lap.

The larger man folded Ky in to his chest and held him there, mindful of where his tusks landed. He then brought a hand up and scritched lightly at Ky's thinning hair, so thankful to have him safely with them.

"Oh, _Ky_. I have hunted and hunted... Jaunre even gave a few attempts."

Ky hummed, pushing carefully back into the scritching, and stayed pressed close, one arm looped behind his neck. "How far off course did I _go_ , when that blast hit me?" he asked, puzzled, "that _neither_ of you could find me?"

"Damn near the opposite direction," Micah supplied, because Plo had begun humming happily at his brother. "Maz pointed us at a planet reportedly having issues that sounded like you."

"Remind me to find something exceptionally nice for her, then," Ky said distractedly, still cuddling emphatically with Plo. "Though I may have to get you to deliver it. I'm a bit 'strike first, rifle the corpse for intel' about Weequay right now." Maz generally did employ them for her own use after all, being the Pirate Queen.

Micah snorted. "Alright." He moved to where he could get a hand on Ky by shifting to the vacated copilot seat.

Plo was contentedly reinforcing the childhood bond, wrapping Ky in his web of thought.

Ky relaxed into it, the empty place he had been ignoring for so long now properly filled again, Plo's presence secure in his mind, Micah right there as well, hand on him, and he could almost have gone to sleep, the thrum of hyperspace and Plo's hum blending into an absolute assurance of safety.

::Do, our own. Sleep for now, and words later,:: Plo sent.

::Better to sleep where you are than in our cabin, where you'd have to mask. Plo's cartridges are fairly fresh,:: Micah reassured.

::Hmm...:: Ky contemplated that drowsily for several moments, then half-nodded and let himself drop into sleep.

Plo was more than able to hold their brother for as long as he needed to sleep, adept at dozing in a pilot's chair, and at being a pillow... despite his near rock-hard skin.

Micah quietly left them like that, going to double check on the girls.

Asajj had blinked a few times at the sight of Lissarkh -- she could remember no-one that looked like that, at all -- but Lissarkh had greeted her cheerfully enough, and she was trying to take that on face value, and accustom herself to the oddity of being around other girls again.

Lissarkh wasn't using the other fold-down berth, so Bultar had pointed it out.

"She prefers a nest on the deck," Bultar said, pointing to a pile of pillows and blankets.

They got her settled in, and then Micah was sticking his head in the door after a brief knock and response.

"Are you all doing well? Ky is asleep, as Plo decided to hum and scratch," he said with a smile. "Welcome, Asajj, to our extended little grouping. It is going to be good, to get to know you."

Asajj blinked and reached out, felt her Master's sleeping mind, and relaxed a little. He was, truly, just asleep. "I am well," she agreed, watching him steadily. "He has told me many stories of you. It will be interesting to see how the reality matches."

Micah lit up. "Oh I know I like you now! Always test the reality of what is told!"

Bultar laughed at her master and tossed a small pillow his way, which was caught with the Force, and a push-shove ensued until Lissarkh added a vector and knocked it out of contention.

"Go, Papa, and sleep too," the smallest of the girls said.

"Yes, Tiny Dragon," Micah said. "Take good care of our clan's new daughter."

Asajj smiled for a moment, herself, at the commentary and the play between them -- Ky played with her, though it had taken her a while to get used to the idea, and so it was a good thing, in her eyes. She was startled at the mention of a clan, and a collective 'parent' role, But it was not, she thought, a bad thing. "Sleep well," she said.

"Thank you, Asajj." Micah gave her a little nod and left them to their own devices.

"If you get hungry, there are snacks there," Bultar pointed at a small cooling unit. "Or the galley is down the corridor to the left."

"And the 'fresher is through that small hatch."

Asajj wondered what a ship 'fresher would be like, surely worlds different than their rough accommodations in the keep, but nodded. "Thank you. I'm not hungry, I don't think. Not yet, anyway."

"Alright. If you need anything, let us know." Bultar smiled a little. "I remember your master from my tinier years. He always had sweets for me when I would visit my Finder."

"I don't need much," Asajj replied, "not normally. Not as long as he is safe."

Lissarkh and Bultar gave a quiet, happy look at each other and nodded. "Yes," Lissarkh said. "They have to be well."

Asajj nodded firmly, because that truly was what was important, and she liked the two other girls better for that they had agreed so quickly.

+++

A meal shared, once Plo had put them on a longer leg of the journey through hyperspace, had helped even more. Now, with the girls present, Micah and Plo were working on bringing Ky up to date, so far, leaving the personal bits for last.

"Obi-Wan has matured into an excellent padawan, a good foil for Qui-Gon," Micah said approvingly. "Qui, however, is still his usual obstinate self."

"It is good for us to hear contrary opinions," Plo said.

"That I can't argue with," Ky said, "but is Qui-Gon treating the boy well?"

Micah laughed brightly, but it was Bultar that answered.

"He does! Obi-Wan often speaks well of his master."

Plo nodded at that. "And Qui cannot stop waxing poetic about him."

"Oh, good," Ky said, nodding and relaxing. "Excellent, even."

"Boy should have already been Knighted," Micah said. "He's more than proven his potential. But he, and Qui, have not been willing."

Ky blinked at that, humming thoughtfully. "Well... _that_ 's certainly a change. I think I approve."

"They're a good pair," Bultar said. "Papa and I have partnered them a few times."

Ky smiled at her, nodding. "That doesn't surprise me much, Micah and Qui were always a pair for getting into trouble."

"I beg to differ," Micah began.

"Keep such things private," Plo said in a deadpan voice, making Bultar groan at him.

Ky snorted and chucked a pillow at Plo's head, rolling his eyes. "You're ridiculous, Plo. And I'm fairly sure I can come up with at least a story your daughters haven't heard if you keep protesting, Micah."

"Later perhaps," Micah said, amused at the byplay, even as he sent a very lewd thought and image to his mate for revenge.

"Alright, Ky," Plo said softly. "Asajj, would you move closer?"

She did, even as she wondered just what was coming.

Ky shifted closer too, reaching out one hand to rest on Plo, the other on Asajj.

Plo inhaled, then began the difficult news. "We lost Tahl. A bit over six years ago. She'd encountered some difficulties because of a bad mission, was adapting, but... her sense of self had been damaged.

"It lead her to make a rash mistake in not listening to a rare vision Qui had been willing to share.

"She left behind a padawan, whom Kit has taken in, and is near to sending to Trials."

"We lost -- " Ky's voice shook with shock and pain, and he clung to Plo's robe, his hand on Asajj carefully not tightening. "Oh, Force. I... damn, damn."

The idea that she wasn't going to be there when he got back, that he hadn't been there for her -- that Qui hadn't been able to convince her to listen... all of it hurt.

Asajj tucked in along his side, soothing in their bond with love for him, sorrow for his loss.

Micah and Plo both wrapped around his mind in their shared communal bond.

"She was betrayed. Qui was with her when she died... and it was rough on him," Micah said. "I am certain Obi-Wan is the only reason he did not leave the Order entirely."

"Oh, Qui," Ky murmured softly, his throat aching, as he let himself pull Asajj close, leaning into the warmth of her love and sorrow, using that to steady himself. "I don't doubt that you're right, Micah. For all their fighting... well. Hard on him is likely an understatement."

"Indeed," Plo said to that. "We wanted you to be able to deal with it here, away from him, since he has, mostly managed to go on with living."

"The last thing he needs is my fresh grief," Ky agreed, curling a little more firmly around his padawan, closing his eyes. He'd often wondered, what Tahl would have have made of Asajj, what Asajj would have thought of his beloved sister/lover, and the knowledge that she had been dead years and he had never known was a ripping, tearing thing.

"Shh, shh, master," Asajj said softly, trying to help him through it...

...and Micah felt/heard/saw an echo of his vision, the fierce young man saying that word like a litany to Obi-Wan, the twist of it something different, just like Asajj did.

It was nuanced as a reclaimed word, and didn't that mean something odd for the young man.

Ky breathed, and wrestled with it, and held on to her, taking long minutes to wrap his mind around the loss and the grief, to try to accept it and put it aside... and finally he murmured, "Thank you, dear one." He sat up, focused on Plo, and asked, "What's the next bit?"

"The next bit... is that Micah had a vision." Plo reached then for his mate, scratching along his scalp gently in affection. "A severe one that implies a loss of more in our circle. And contains the extinction of the Order alongside the fall of the Republic.

"Only, the Vision? Feels like the memory of one who lived it, and it hit Micah so oddly."

Asajj blinked, considering that... she couldn't remember, from her lessons before she was sold away, or from the whispers that sometimes came to her in dreams, anything like that. Ky, for his part, frowned dangerously, shaking his head. Their circle wasn't so large as to accept even another loss, let alone multiple... and while he had little enough care for the Republic, and more than a few problems with the Order, the death of either would cause incalculable harm to the galaxy as a whole, which he was supposed to stand for and defend. "That sounds," he finally said, "both abhorrent and confusing."

"It was and is and I don't recommend experiencing it," Micah said. "From certain contexts, we think this warning is from a Foundling Plo has yet to bring home."

"How they managed to send a message back in time, or how the Force decided such was appropriate... we have no idea."

"Father," Lissarkh said, having quietly opened the pad with the drawings. "A piece matches?" She floated it to him, and Plo looked, then looked briefly at Asajj, before passing it to Micah.

"OH!" He grinned then, looking at Ky and Padawan. "Well, confirmation of a sort that we are on track? As your padawan, minus hair... and yes, young one, bald is a look you do well if you ever need to... is one of the faces I have sketched from the vision."

Ky shook his head in confusion, then looked at Asajj affectionately. "Then we, or you at least, made it off that world somehow," he said. "Even in a world where you... did not... come for me? Good. I am glad. And pleased you have found a piece of confirmation."

Asajj let a low growl accompany her dislike of the idea of it not being both of them.

"Perceptive, dear brother," Micah said, sighing. "It seems -- you two girls have heard it and know we are fighting against it -- we had all left Plo to his own devices, and relatively soon."

" **No** ," Ky said, sharply, shaking his head. "Oh, Plo, that..."

"Is not going to happen," Plo said firmly. "The event must have happened before I find this child, as none of the three of you appear, yet Bultar is not much older and Lissarkh is not that much taller."

"So, we are warned, and beginning to analyze all parts," Micah agreed.

None of the three of them. None. Plo, alone with his daughters to care for, a new foundling, and a boy that would surely be broken-hearted, if his bond to Qui-Gon was as strong as they said now. "If it needed to go to an analyst," Ky said, faintly amused, "I believe it picked the best it could."

Lissarkh flashed all her teeth in a smile, and Bultar nodded sharply.

"Now that we have you, we will be giving a piece to Kit to sort through, and then... we will not make Tyvokka's mistake. We have shared with you and the girls. My Master will also be told," Micah said.

"And, once we get Qui away from the Temple, we will break the news to him as well," Plo said. "As, apparently, _that man_ is a key part of the wrong side of it all."

Ky growled at the mention of Dooku, then his eyes sharpened. Key part on the _wrong_ side? Qui would never want to believe that, it would be trouble... but _Ky_ had no problem believing it. The man had been wrong in the head since they were children. "Hmm... so much for that for _his_ being held up as such a paragon," he said darkly. "Paragon of everything _wrong_ with the Order, though, maybe."

"Hmm." Plo was all but glowering through his mask and goggles.

Micah sighed. "There was an incident. And then he repudiated his last padawan, skied off to Serenno... and has yet to officially state he is retired."

"Oh, Qui has to be in a state about _that_ , too. Especially if he's holding on closely to Obi-Wan... no wonder you wanted me back, you're going to _need_ me to help deal with him."

"Not just that!" Plo growled.

"We want and need you back because we've missed you terribly! This just gave us more impetus to put outside resources on finding you," Micah said.

"Oh, you two," Ky said with a smile, releasing Asajj to reach for each of them, "I was teasing you. You already said you've been looking."

They each took a hand and squeezed. "I have no idea how we will head off something so dreadful, but I have faith in us to find that way," Micah told them both, then gestured with his free hand to the girls. "We have good heirs to aid us, and at least we have Areen."

Ky nodded. "So we do, indeed." He chuckled wryly. "Anyone else amused that Qui's the only one with a male padawan or near-padawan at the moment?"

Micah giggled. "That is cute. And Kit's is a girl ... Mon Cal."

"She'll be Knight soon. And then Obi-Wan really won't have much excuse. Him and Darsha will be last of their group," Bultar pointed out.

+++

It was a very sober group that came away from Yinchorr. The mission had come up so soon after returning with Ky and Asajj, after filling Qui-Gon in on the unpleasantness, and not a one of them had failed to grasp the impact of Micah's survival.

If Asajj had not been there with them, if she had not hissed directions to Obi-Wan to hold shut blood vessels while she healed the slug-thrower's tearing damage…

The trip back had seen Bultar and Obi-Wan in the cockpit, as Plo and Qui-Gon had holed up with Micah, taking turns scolding him for losing track of their enemy, and just reassuring themselves he did live.

Areen Jepet, master to Micah, had come to Plo's quarters on the return, and that was when it really clicked for Bultar that yes, her beloved master, one of her fathers when not in the public parts of the Temple, had very nearly died. He had thought it clearly and loudly enough for his own master to hear/feel it across the galaxy.

Her jaw tightened. She would soon take her Trials, even though she was younger than Obi-Wan who had not. They needed her to be free of the padawan restrictions, so that they could find a way to end it all, to stop her papa's Vision from coming true. Just saving his life was not going to be enough. That thought sent her on a tangent, one about Obi-Wan. She sought him out and sat down with him.

"So. You know my master should have died there. Means yours is at risk now," Bultar pointed out. He nodded soberly, already going over his copy of the notes they were sharing between themselves, to keep things from exploding.

"We don't know how, but yes, he is," Obi-Wan said. "I am aware, and struggling to be certain I am mindful of our circumstances."

"Good."

Bultar then reached over and found Obi-Wan's hand. "I think another piece of insurance would be to find your padawan. Not that he would be, right away, but… Papa is pretty certain he is a key part of the mystery in the later years of the Vision. He ties into the Foundling, the one we think pushed the Vision down. So, it seems like getting him here, safer, would be smart, right?"

Obi-Wan got flustered. The idea of being a Knight soon was bad enough, but, like Bultar, he was coming around to the idea. Having a Padawan? That was something beyond his belief. However, bringing an at-risk child to the Temple would be good, and the rest might change in time anyway.

"Keep watch, and I will go as deep into meditation as I can, see if the Force will show him to me," he agreed.

Bultar settled, and kept the watch, knowing the common room they used rarely had visitors outside of their age group… and all of them were supposed to be out celebrating the announcement Darsha was taking her Trials at the end of the week.

How long there was silence in the room, she couldn't actually say, but eventually her friend gasped in a breath and she turned to see him coming up out of it.

Obi-Wan opened his eyes, looking at Bultar. "Desert world," he said, shaking his head, "but not one I know. I... might be able to draw out some of the buildings, though. I didn't see the boy, just a place..."

"It's a start? Draw it as best you can, and I'll see what I can find out. Jaunre doesn't like desert worlds much, so we can't get him to go Find... Master Plo has similar issues." She thought about it for a moment, and then shook her head. "I'll see who my grandmaster trusts to do it, once we know where to go."

"All right," Obi-Wan agreed, and settled determinedly to drawing out the buildings he'd seen, the shape of them and the entryways to the buildings, the impressions of things against the walls...

Bultar tapped out a message to her grandmaster, asking to be able to see her that evening after Initiate classes, pleased her plan was bearing fruit.

Areen replied quickly with an agreement, and an hour for it. Obi-Wan kept working until it was done, and only then looked up. "What does your grandmaster say?" he asked, curious.

"I have a time I can come by," Bultar said. "Do you want to go with me, or do you have duties this evening?"

"I'll go," Obi-Wan replied, curious about her grandmaster. He hadn't spent much time with the older ones that weren't Master Yoda, but Bultar was so fond of her grandmaster.

"Oh, good. She's likely to have questions if I know her at all." Bultar told him when, then dashed off to go take her turn in cleaning the dining hall used by most of their age mates.

Obi-Wan trotted off to chores of his own, but rejoined her well in time for the invitation to Master Jepet's, keeping hold of the sketch he'd done on the datapad.

Bultar knocked, waited for permission, then entered. "Master, I brought Obi-Wan with me, since this most pertains to him, within the context of our other mission."

"Wise of you," the Falleen said as she came out of the kitchen area. "Hello, Obi-Wan Kenobi. I am Areen Jepet."

"Hello, Master," Obi-Wan replied, bowing his head and shoulders to her, "A pleasure. I was seeking for the boy that is supposed to be my padawan... but all I Saw was a desert world. Not one I'm familiar with at all."

"Desert worlds can be dreary to say the least, but certainly stimulating enough to bring forth Force potential," Areen said, indicating they both should sit on the couch, taking the chair. "You have a drawing, I am told? A good skill to have. Honed during your stint bodyguarding, perhaps?" she asked, clearly well-aware of him and his past.

Bultar smiled; that was her grandmaster to perfection, always finding out all she could about the people involved in projects she assisted on.

"Um... yes, somewhat," Obi-Wan agreed, flushing as he offered Master Areen the datapad, "here it is, Master. And... I hadn't ever thought of it that way, but... I suppose the harshness of the desert could have that effect, couldn't it?"

"Some can. Some merely burn everything out of a person." Areen accepted it and began looking at the structures. She floated a different pad to her, inputting various characteristics, but Bultar could see the frown already building.

Her grandmaster had a guess where it was, and didn't much like it.

"Hm," Obi-Wan said thoughtfully, nodding... but a glance at Bultar said that whatever her Grandmaster was coming up with, she didn't like it. And that worried him.

After a couple more searches, Areen handed Obi-Wan's pad back to him.

"If I am correct, and I think I have confirmed it well enough, this is not a matter for any of you to deal with," she told the pair. "As Jedi still must be very circumspect in Hutt space."

"Hutt space?" Obi-Wan asked, worried for this child he'd never met, this child that was supposed to be his padawan. Hutt space was no place for a child with the Force... and Grandmaster Areen was probably right. But who would go, if they couldn't.

"Tatooine. One of the gangster Hutts is using it as his breeding ground for scum and villainy." Areen sighed. "It's been some time since I went to the Rim."

"...you would go, Master?" Obi-Wan asked, his head tipping slightly, curiously. She seemed strong, and more than capable, but what she'd said did not comfort him about anyone going. Hutts that had a penchant for evil were... well. He'd met a few.

Areen arched a brow at him. "Young one, there are few in the Temple who have had extensive dealings in Hutt territory.

"A rogue Falleen bounty hunter will attract less notice than most."

Obi-Wan had to laugh at that for a moment, then nodded ruefully. "That makes sense, Master," he admitted. A Falleen bounty hunter **would** go unremarked in Hutt space. And no doubt, an experienced Sentinel would know exactly how to make that believable.

"I will do my best to find your mystery padawan, young Kenobi." She then looked at Bultar. "Tell my own padawan that there is another piece already in motion from his visions. As the way it was given to me, the boy was not here until later."

"Of course, grandmaster," Bultar said, grinning at the very fact Areen still called both Micah and Kit her padawans.

"Thank you, Master," Obi-Wan bowed, grateful. He still felt far from capable of training a padawan, and the thought of being a Knight, separated from his Master, made a nauseous ache rise in his throat, and he shook it away.

Areen looked at him curiously, catching the edge of something in his presence, but she did not push.

"Off with you both. Go be young and irresponsible for a bit."

Bultar giggled and stood. "Yes, Grandmaster!"

"If you insist, Master," Obi-Wan said, laughing at the thought of being told to go be irresponsible.

Bultar guided him back out, still smiling. "She's wonderful," she told Obi-Wan. "She means it. She means to go have fun, to make up for a lot of what we have to do normally."

"I like her," Obi-Wan agreed, "she does seem wonderful. And... well, then. I guess we should listen. Any thoughts?"

"Quin's off on an escort mission with his new padawan," Bultar mused. "And Darsha has a stick up her orifice again, readying for her Trials... I think most of your friends are off on Knight missions... so maybe go check out the betting and drinks down at the One-Eyed Weequay?"

"That works for me," Obi-Wan agreed with another soft laugh. "I'm a decent gambler, though my Master normally isn't."

"No offense, but he's too open and apparent in everything," Bultar said. "My Master taught me that gambling is a good way to make certain you don't have to explain to a pinch-faced Jedi accountant why you had to have those three thousand credits for a bribe."

"You're not wrong," Obi-Wan agreed, then he laughed again, shaking his head. "I can... just hear your Master saying that, actually. And needing it."

"Pretty certain that was personal experience when he was still a Knight. Long before I came along." She was younger than Obi-Wan in years, but because Micah had found time for her all the way from Initiate to Knighthood, she had been learning her path as long as Obi-Wan had been learning his as a padawan.

"You might be right," Obi-Wan said thoughtfully, thinking of some things he'd heard from his Master about their young days.

+++

Micah's day had settled into something of a routine. He would always go and check on Sifo-Dyas, as the man had confided that he was seeing visions of the Republic falling to hordes of droids. It was something Micah could try to affect… and then he went one day to learn the man had cleared out of his quarters.

"Kriff!" he swore as he came back into Ky's quarters, today's designated meeting place.

Ky and Lissarkh both met that with "What?"

"Sifo-Dyas has left the Temple," Micah said. "He has not logged in as taking a mission. He's just gone."

"Didn't you say he was having visions similar to yours?" Ky asked, cocking his head. "I don't like the thought of anyone with that knowledge just running off. Especially with these damned noises out of the Trade Federation -- who could easily produce the things you saw."

Micah favored his brother with a long look. "I know, dearheart. I have steadily been drawing his details out to help me clarify mine," he said patiently. "And now he is gone. Dooku's best friend has left the temple."

"And we know that one has not listened to Qui's attempts to draw him home, or out," Ky said with a sigh. "Damn, damn and triple damn."

Micah felt a chill on his spine. "Qui needs to be careful."

Lissarkh tipped her head away from her studies. "Papa?"

"In ancient times, those closest to a Sith often wound up murdered by that Sith near the time the Sith revealed themselves...."

Lissarkh hissed, deep in her throat, and shook her head, denying the idea. Uncle Qui-Gon had been closer lately, which was good, and so he could not leave them now. Especially not for something like this.

Ky had made a very similar sound, shaking his head. "No. Not acceptable. What, some kind of proof of loyalty... or depravity?"

"Possibly. The history of Jedi turned Sith didn't actually give us much in the way of solid intelligence," Micah deadpanned. "And so much is relegated to myth."

Ky snorted darkly, and nodded. "A point," he had to admit.

Micah pinched the bridge of his nose, and settled back in a chair, thinking. How could he shift things, when it looked like the Sith had just gotten in under him and stolen an asset? Plo remembering, at last, with Qui-Gon's help that they had met the hawk-nosed human of the Visions had at least given them someone to watch in the Senate. But now Dooku had stolen a march on them all. Was Sheev Palpatine now aware of their machinations?

Ky sighed and moved over to rub at Micah's neck and back, offering what comfort he could.

"Papa, if Master Dyas is gone, and you are worried about Uncle Qui, are you having a Sentinel watch Master Nu?" Lissarkh asked.

Micah chuckled, his mood breaking, just like that. "Master Areen handled that. She and Master Sinube moved their dejarik game, and have been inviting her to play more often. So they are aware of her comings and goings, as well as marking out weaknesses in the Archives."

"Well that's at least a bit of good news," Ky said. "We couldn't ask for any better guards than the two of them."

"Father should be finding the vision source soon, too," Lissarkh said. "Maybe that will help."

"I hope so," Ky replied, smiling at the padawan affectionately. "That would be good. Though a little child... well. We'll see."

"No, I can see the logic. If the child grows into whomever sent me this knowledge, it might sharpen things for me just to have them near," Micah mused.

Ky nodded his understanding, though Micah couldn't exactly see him, and hummed agreement. "Possibly, possibly."

Micah closed his eyes and pushed back into Ky's ministrations. "You are a delight, brother."

They would just have to wait for the next spark in this. He wondered if the boy Areen had brought home had settled into his life enough to possibly provide insight... no that would be meddling too much, just because the boy had an unholy midichlorian count. Also, his mother, the very Force sensitive Shmi Skywalker, would not take kindly to such meddling. Areen had argued for her to be hired into the Support Corps, and then gotten her assigned to the creche. It was going well, despite grumbles over the too-old child being so near his mother as he learned Temple ways.

"I try, dear," Ky said, and settled to his task. He wasn't sure what Micah was thinking about -- well, not specifically anyway. But he would do what he could to comfort him.

+++

The group trying to stem the fall of the Republic in secrecy from their own Order had been struggling. Darsha and Anoon Bondara had been murdered, leading Obi-Wan to fret that he had not done enough. All signs, before he left on mission, said that a Force user of potent ability had been the cause.

When Valorum had asked for Jinn-and-Kenobi, with the latter a Knight at last, Qui-Gon had countered with the logical concept that negotiations could only happen in good faith if both sides had the advice of a Jedi team. So while Jinn-and-Kenobi went to the Trade Federation, Narec-and-Ventress went to Naboo, bluffing/intimidating their way to the surface.

Bultar Swan sneaked onto the planet at the same time, and was a silent, waiting asset until they managed to spring the fullness of the plan. Chaos ensued, but the planet was free, the Trade Federation on the retreat… and they had a face to put to at least one Sith they had not known. The strange Zabrak warrior had escaped but his ferocious style of fighting and palpable hatred for the Jedi would not be forgotten soon.

Whatever gain their enemy in the Senate had hoped to make seemed stifled, until Saesee Tiin let drop the fact that, in the face of growing corruption, the Senate's Security Council had been redesigned, with broader powers to investigate the charges. Sheev Palpatine had been elected to it, and the small clan knew they needed to dig in.

Only, what was the next move? How could they know the best path, with so many pieces of the board rearranged? The answer began to unfold as the creche was awakened one night to whimpering Togruta nightmares. With Shmi down there, she knew to send for Plo... with a side of "Ani can you calm her?"

"I'll try, Mom," Anakin answered, and hopped up on the bed to lay down next to her, his arm reaching out to hold her in against him, trying to project calm and steady...

The small child whimpered and whistled a bit more, but there was warm and rightness near, and she scooched closer to the warmth. She didn't wake, not really, but she reached up to hold onto her lekku, arms crossed on her body, and settled slightly... as Anakin felt the fear and worry and heavy wetness around her mind.

"It's okay," Anakin murmured to her, low and soft, "it's okay, you're safe... shhh, shh..." but those feelings weren't... quite... it didn't feel like just a nightmare. It felt like something important.

He frowned and tried to hold on to what he'd gotten, even as he tried to settle her more.

Her mind opened to him, as he nudged at the impressions, and he felt the winds and rain of a world sheathed in water at all times. The fear grew, with a sense of life borne in stress. A lot of life, at that.

What... what was that? Anakin frowned and puzzled at it, as he murmured to her still low and soft. Water, rain, everywhere -- that much water was terrifying -- and life on life on life...

It did not take long for Plo to come to the summons, as Anakin was holding on to that sensation and imagery, the Kel Dor settled on a stool beside the bed.

"Shh, I am here now, little one... hello, little Ani..."

"Hello, Master Plo," Anakin said, soft, and rested his head on Ahsoka's. "She's having... it doesn't feel like just a nightmare?"

"No, we suspected it would not be, though... she's so tiny." Plo smiled to see the connection forging between these two odd children of their clan. He then reached at looked in Ahsoka's mind, to see the water world they had never identified. "Force but this is a mystery," he murmured.

"What is, Master Plo?" Anakin asked, lifting his head again. "And... you... thought this would happen?"

"Hmm, she is connected to the special missions we are conducting," Plo told him. "But the planet she is seeing simply... does not exist in any record we can search.

"Maybe it is time for Master Jinn to go and see Dex again." Plo eased Ahsoka's mind down, away from the receptive state and back towards sleep... only to have the child's mind fight him, clinging to the lives pressing all around the edges of the vision.

Anakin felt that, though he wasn't sure what it was, and he tried to soothe her, too. "I don't like that place," he told Master Plo, "it's... well, wet. And... cruel?"

"Cruel is a good word... oh, she's trying to protect them... such a little guardian already." Plo used a bit more pressure to break the connection, so that Ahsoka slid into proper sleep. "Poor little one."

"Hm?" Anakin asked. "What was she trying to do? I felt... something... but I don't understand what."

"The life that we could feel? She was wrapping herself around them, trying to protect them from the unknown," Plo said.

"Oh," Anakin whispered, shaking his head a little as he cuddled her closer. "That's..." He hoped that was something like what he would do, or try to do...

"Just as you were trying to protect her from what she felt," Plo said. "Thank you for helping her. She should sleep now, but these visions may come again in the future."

"I want to help," Anakin replied softly, smiling brightly at Master Plo.

"I know you do, young one." Plo scritched, very lightly, along the boy's scalp. "Try to get some more rest. She should remain asleep for the rest of her sleep cycle."

"Okay," Anakin agreed, having leaned into the light rasp of talons in his hair. It was comforting, more than he would have expected, and he curled up contentedly.

Plo left, going to Shmi who had waited in the door after soothing the children Ahsoka had awakened, and escorted her back to her room.

"Thank you for sending for me. As I told Anakin, we half-expected visions, but did not expect them to be night terrors." He indicated the creche room. "Your son is a very caring boy, and that is quite soothing."

Shmi smiled. "He has an instinct to help, even when that instinct outreaches his ability. This, at least, is something he could do, and well."

Plo nodded. "I do hope you get some more rest, Lady Shmi."

"I shall," Shmi said, affection curving her mouth more. "And you, Master Plo."

"Hmm, perhaps." He inclined his head and went to see if his eldest Foundling was awake.

Kit was only drowsing, and responded quickly to Plo's call. "What is it, my Finder?" he asked, curious, as he let Plo in.

"Ahsoka has... dreamed does not suit, and yet, it was not a conscious vision ... seen the world. May I share her impressions with you, and see if that helps you any further in placing it?

"If not, I will ask Qui-Gon if he ever remembered to ask Dex further questions."

"Of course," Kit replied, "but I thought Dex was absent, last anyone checked." Kit settled into a chair, and reached for his Finder's hands. "Your little one, already?"

"Yes, and I had hoped he'd be back by now; I do hope he is careful in his latest adventure." Plo took Kit's hands. "There can be no doubt that the world and the same-face humans are connected, I think." And with that, he shared the storm-wracked oceans beating on a city rising from the sea with that heavy presence of life.

Kit was fascinated by the storms, the power and roll of them and the waves. The hues were still nothing he knew, but then, they had come to a Togruta, then a Kel Dor, who knew if they were as he would see them with his own eyes? The city, too, was unfamiliar, but the sheer break and writhe of the waves showed pylons, this time. Driven how deep, he wondered. And that heavy life... what was that?

::She was wrapping herself around that, trying to protect them from the unknown, Kit. She's not even four.::

::Oh, my,:: Kit answered, shaking his head slightly. ::That speaks well of her, but she should not have to. You could get no better sense of all that life? Or had the dreaming passed when you got there?::

::Mostly passing, as young Ani was soothing her down, though it took effort to draw her away from them.

::I am not certain they exist as more than a nebulous life as yet. Like unborn children.:

Kit hummed at that, thinking of the species he knew that created great egg-purses or bubble-nests, then recalled what they were discussing. Humans were not supposed to reproduce like that, at all. ::So many....::

::I know, Kit. I wish to find them swiftly, to protect them.::

::yes,:: Kit agreed entirely. ::I just... nothing about that world is familiar to me. I think, though, that it might be a drowned world...::

::Hmm. Well, we must wait for input from Dex, then. If he does not know of it... we must scour the Archive again.::

Kit nodded, and puffed out an exasperated breath. "All of this is very frustrating."

"Yes." Plo let go of his hands. "I had hoped more input would jog your memory of a story that Neaed had shared with you from his travels."

"I hoped so, too," Kit agreed, frowning. "But I asked uncle, and he did not recognize it either."

Plo sighed heavily. "We shall keep trying. For now, our main focus must be subtly interfering with Palpatine's attempts to garner more power, and foiling Dooku's whispers."

Kit nodded. "So we must. Do you know, I can never smell anything more than a blank calm from him? Palpatine, I mean."

"As I only find public duty and service in his surface thoughts, with a trace of insuring Naboo's interests are served... what is expected for a politician, in other words.

" **How**?" Kit muttered, "is _that_ possible?"

"I look forward to finding out when we unmask him," Plo growled.

Kit nodded his agreement with that, thoroughly meaning it. It baffled him, it annoyed him, and more, given that it was in the hands of Sith, it was a danger they could not ignore.

"We have much more to do, Kit, but we shall prevail. We must."

Kit hummed softly, and leaned against his Finder for a moment. "It's late. We should both be sleeping."

"Micah would say sleep is for the weak... and then snore in someone's ear," Plo said lightly, before he stood. "Rest well, my friend."

"And you, Plo," Kit replied, smiling at him, before he went to settle into his lagoon and sleep.

+++

Qui-Gon took himself back down to Dex's after a message from Flo finally came, choosing the middle of the night, when there should be less of a crowd in Dex's bright diner.

Dex was his usual ebullient self, greeting Qui with a huge hug and a few slaps on the back.

"Hello, my friend," Qui-Gon said, laughing and slapping him on the back in return, "did you have a good trip, wherever you ran off to?"

"Ehh, made a few profits, connections, got rid of a problem... so good, yes. And you? What has the illustrious Qui-Gon Jinn been up to?"

"Missed getting to go to rescue Ky from where he'd gotten himself stranded, got Obi-Wan off to his Trials, came entirely too close to death on Yinchorr -- you heard about that, right? -- and... several other missions."

"Busy busy... and Narec, right? The one you used to grumble about." Dex smiled broadly. "Little Obi-Wan, all grown up into a Jedi Knight! That's something!"

"Yes, that Ky," Qui-Gon agreed, then smiled, his chest aching at the mention of Obi-Wan as a Knight. "And yes it is. He is doing quite well," he said, so very proud of him, though he missed his closer company dearly.

"I need your advice, Dex. Quietly."

"Time for a break, anyway," Dex agreed. "Come on back." Dex headed for the small office off the kitchen itself.

Qui-Gon followed him back inside, and pulled out a datapad, unlocking the first screen and then several more to get to the images he needed. "Do you know anything about cloning operations outside of the Republic?"

"Cloning? Why would the Jedi be after cloners? I know a few, some that specialize in medical needs, and others... that go a bit further."

"Visions, Dex," Qui-Gon answered honestly. "We've Seen a multitude of people, all with the same face, and terrible violence. We have to find them, or their world. We have some images of it, from visions."

"Hmm, there's one that I know does that on large scale," Dex admitted. "Let me see the world, if you've got it?"

Qui-Gon nodded and handed the datapad over. "These are what we've been able to get out of Micah and others' heads, Dex."

"More than one... bad business brewing then." Dex flicked through the images swiftly, and shook his head. "Yeah, them's the cloners I thought. Kamino, out near the Rishi Maze."

"Kamino," Qui-Gon repeated instantly, filing it into his mind, "and near the Rishi Maze. What an odd place...."

"Nothing much out that way to make it good for anything... except the cloners. They're odd ones, producing work forces for any that know to ask and have the credits.

"They say the people are all alike, and that's why they don't mind cloning sentients."

"The Kaminoans? Are all alike?" Qui-Gon asked, cocking his head to check that he'd followed. 'Any that know how to ask...' well. Wasn't that an interesting phrase. " _Thank_ you, Dex." ::Plo!::

::Qui,:: Plo said evenly, even as he soothed his Foundling from a new dream, one of boys that feared being different.

:: You're busy?:: Qui-Gon asked, startled, :: sorry, dear. It can wait until I can get home.::

::I can still carry on two conversations. Little 'Soka has seen the children now.::

::All right,:: Qui-Gon answered, ::then you'll be glad to be able to tell her we know the name of the world, and its location. Dex is home, and knew exactly who and where I meant.::

::THANK FORCE.::

Plo petted the child's back, and inserted that quiet knowing and a promise to help them.

Qui-Gon smiled at the answer, though he felt just as relieved, ::Indeed, brother. Indeed. The world is called Kamino. Southwest from the Rishi Maze, Dex says. I'll get what he knows of the spelling in the various scripts, to bring back.::

::Thank you, and him, Qui-Gon. She is so afraid for the boys, as they themselves seem to be.::

::I will tell him,:: Qui-Gon agreed, and fully returned his attention to Dex. "Plo says thank you, Dex. Just as I do. We've been looking for this world for almost two years."

"Anything you need, Qui-Gon! I prefer to keep the Jedi as friends!"

Qui-Gon laughed at that, and squeezed Dex's shoulder. "We appreciate having good friends, Dex." He fell into getting the details of the world's name and location, stayed long enough to eat what Flo put in front of him, and returned to the Temple.

+++

Kamino was a nightmare for the small clan, and it was at that point they had to fall back on the Order itself, sharing things they had learned (to a degree) about the overall state of the Galaxy. Not a single one of the adults of the clan were without horror at Kamino, at producing lives to die… but it was the 'A-Squad', as Quinlan Vos had dubbed them, who had the worst reactions.

"You swore they didn't do that here!" Asajj snapped at Ky, taking a harsher, fiercer tone with her former master than she ever did normally.

"You said the Republic didn't use slaves, that even the Twi'lek dancers aren't really slaves, and yet a Jedi made those boys!" Anakin all but wailed at Obi-Wan.

Obi-Wan moved to the couch and reached for his padawan, even as Ky shook his head.

"What Sifo-Dyas has done is abominable and in direct violation of the Force itself," Ky said. "Let alone the laws of the Republic."

Ahsoka sniffled a little, knees in her chest, scrawny arms around them. It drew even Asajj's wrathful attention down, remembering that the youngest of their family was highly open to emotions. She moved to pull the child into her lap, settling on the edge of the pillow nest with her and Lissarkh.

"Little 'Soka?" Plo invited, asking her to air her own emotions, knowing that while she had not gone with him and Qui-Gon, she had been seeing them since they had been created.

"I just want them safe, Master Plo," she said softly. "That they were made may be bad, but… I don't want to keep feeling them be so sad and in pain as their brothers that aren't perfect are killed."

The silence through the room was palpable as that dropped on all of them, made them aware of what Ahsoka had been seeing in her worst nightmares. More, they looked at it solidly from the boys' experience, and Anakin buried his face in his master's shoulder.

"We're going to make it right, right?" he asked, voice muffled from where he was.

Bultar said, "Since they have been created, and have a focus on training to service, we may be able to pull them under the Agri-Corps. There have to be laws about citizenship as a reward for service to the republic somewhere in our history..."

"We just have to find them. Or if there aren't, convince someone to put it forward in response to one of the crises that keep boiling up."

"We will need them," Micah said. "But first, how to make the discovery known to the Republic... without further causing a decline in the favor of the Order."

"Because, more than anything, we shall need the public on our side," Plo said firmly. "If this means painting Dooku and Sifo as mavericks operating in league with unknown parties to sow dissent, we must."

Ky nodded. "That last is not that difficult, really, with what he's doing. How to make it known... there you've got me. The minute it's even semi public, both of those Sith will know we're on to them. But the Chancellor couldn't possibly keep it known only to himself."

Micah considered, then shook his head. "We will make it clear we think it was a ploy to make for a war, and that we are still seeking the culprits, as we are uncertain the pair acted alone. That will throw suspicion on the banking guilds and armament companies... those who stand to profit."

Qui-Gon nodded, this time. "That makes sense to me," he agreed, his chest aching for what his Master had become, but steadfast. "We're sure none of the money for this came from the Temple's Senatorial coffers?"

Micah nodded. "I had the accounts rebalanced, and have a report ready to account for every credit."

Plo hummed an amused noise -- some of _that_ had been actually entertaining.

+++

Plo settled to the negotiation, Ky at his side for support.

"We have determined that the children who do not meet your testing standards should come to the Order now," Plo Koon said. "As I indicated in my communications before returning here."

"We do not understand," Lama Su said sincerely and Ky mentally calmed Plo down from his rage.

"The Order can meet their needs, and reduce the burden here," Plo said, as his calmest response possible.

Lama Su blinked, cocking his head slightly to the side. "But why? When the development goes wrong, they are marred, and would suffer."

"We will help them." Plo was firm.

"If you wish," Lama Su said, shaking his head slightly. "The culled would not have been counted against the total we were given, so you may as well take them."

They had learned not to let any single Jedi go alone because of moments like this. The first crackle of static energy actually had Ky reach past it and lay a hand on his brother.

"So gracious of you," Ky answered, with sarcasm that was lost in the cultural divide.

Oh, but Vokara would have her hands full... and possibly be as tempered as Plo.

Lama Su made a graceful gesture. "It is only a small difficulty. I will inform the chief scientists of each city of your desire to take the culled. How often will you come to retrieve them?"

"I believe it would be in the best interests of all," Plo said, "to rotate Jedi in as a contact and ... exposure source for the children, to the way the Force moves with us ... for their development. The assigned Jedi can contact the Temple as needed."

Lama Su frowned. "That would be highly unusual... but not impossible. We are hiring trainers, in addition to the template, after all, and they will be remaining here... no trouble, I suppose, to have a Jedi."

"We do wish, after all, for the children to grow up with all the skills needed to live and work alongside the Jedi," Ky said diplomatically. "It would be terrible if these trainers did not provide skills adequate to that."

"Yes," Lama Su said, "yes, that would indeed be terrible, I agree. Very well."

Ky felt sorry for the Jedi that would be assigned.. but it would rotate. Plo would see to that.

+++

As predicted, Vokara Che had embraced the challenge of curing the worst genetic ailments and finding the right approach for the other disabilities with all of her heart.

In that, she was matched by Krieth Nimpur, her ever-present Devaronian Knight. Krieth actually became the face that the boys learned most… alongside Asajj and Anakin and Ahsoka. Asajj, as a Knight, was focused in the healing gifts of the Force, while Anakin just wanted to help these other slaves like he had been helped by coming here. He had missions with Obi-Wan, but the padawan showed up down there as much as he could.

For Ahsoka, it was as much necessity as breathing was, to come and give all the extra time she had to them. She was just a youngling, likely to make Initiate in the same year the first of the boys had come to them, but she needed to be among them.

Micah approved, as every step kept them far from the culmination of his awful vision, and found, more and more, that he breathed easier on waking.

There were two Sith with plans being scattered on the stellar winds. Yet, somehow, they would prevail. They would keep the boys from becoming the troops led to slaughter. They would expose and destroy the Sith threat.

Somehow, they would prevail, and see the bonds they had crafted spread through the Order, to help it heal and grow from stagnation.

It was, he thought, what Master Tyvokka had seen for them, when he put an infant Kel Dor in the creche with three humans and a Noorian. It was what Ahsoka, in some future never meant to be, had wished for when she chose him as her vessel for change.

They had to prevail, with so much riding on it.


End file.
